Fallball 2010: Observations from North Carolina at Loyola

Some brief observations from Saturday night’s scrimmage between North Carolina and Loyola at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore, Md. Scoring was pretty unofficial, but my best guess would be that the Heels took this scrimmage by five or six goals. Very impressive play on both sides – intriguing to see some newcomers as well as some guys stepping into new roles get quality minutes.

NORTH CAROLINA

Playing without Billy Bitter (who was out with an injury), No. 1-ranked incoming freshman freshman Nicky Galasso stepped into the starting lineup alongside Thomas Wood and Marcus Holman, forming a formidable attack that really dazzled under the lights at Ridley Saturday night.

As expected, Galasso looked extremely poised and meshed well with the older guys, knowing where his teammates were at all times and throwing superb passes on a rope. I had him down with three assists in the first half alone. Wood and Holman impressed and had some beautiful goals from X and off outside shots, fueling the offense and demonstrating the ability to run the offense, dodge with effectiveness and finish with a rapid release.

The all-important play in faceoffs and in goal didn’t necessarily jump out, but were fairly solid. Steve Rastivo played strong in the first half, while Chris Madalon came in at halftime and really held his own during the Heels’ run. The competition for the starting job should again be interesting between Rastivo and Madalon, last year’s starter.

Two freshmen, R.G. Keenan (Boys’ Latin, Md.) and Frankie Kelly (Calvert Hall, Md.) took the majority of the draws and looked good. According to several sources, Kelly has had a fantastic fall while Keenan, one of the more highly touted FOGO recruits in recent memory, has looked very good as well. Kelly is smaller, more athletic and better with the ball in his stick after the face-off. It’s likely that these two, as well as junior longpole Mark Staines, will handle the draw-taking responsibilities hoping to improve Carolina’s 48% rate last season.

Despite missing the anchor of the defense in Ryan Flanagan (abroad working in Uganda), the defense looked very strong, led by Charlie McComas. The junior has been a mainstay on Carolina’s backline for the past few years and had another strong showing on Saturday night. I caught up with UNC’s Holman afterwards and he explained that while it will be great to have Flanagan back, it was also really big for the younger guys to have him gone as well.

With that being said, freshman defenseman Jordan Smith started Saturday night and looked very good, playing the opposite of what you’d expect from a newcomer thrown into the lineup. Smith isn’t flashy, but has good size and athleticism — just an overall solid defenseman who plays great position defense. One point of concern for Heel fans is the injury of LSM Milton Lyles just seconds after the opening whistle. Wasn’t able to hear anything more, but it looked fairly serious.

Saw some new faces at midfield with freshmen Ryan Creighton (Malvern Prep, Md.) and Duncan Hutchins (Gilman, Md.) logging significant minutes. Creighton netted Carolina’s first goal of the night. The two committed some unforced errors at times but looked good for the most part and their comfort in the offense will only increase as time goes on.

Jimmy Dunster and Greg McBride also looked good on both ends of the field, taking smart shots and making heads up plays on the defensive end. Dunster seems to be the Heels’ catalyst from the midfield, while McBride should see an increased role this season, in part due to his improved shot which he demonstrated Saturday. Freshman T.J. Kemp made one of the prettier plays of the night when he dodged with ease through the Hounds’ defense, executing beautiful moves before unleashing a nasty shot stickside high that drew a big reaction from the crowd.

LOYOLA

Fans in attendance on Saturday night definitely saw a new look offense, in part due to the graduation of starters Cooper McDonnell (22g, 6a) and Collin Finnerty (24g, 10a) at attack. I made the assumption that this unit would struggle but they looked really strong, namely senior Matt Langan.

Langan was second on the team in points last year (16g, 16a), and looks as though as he’s capable of much bigger things as this year’s leader on offense. He has a fantastic first step and is crafty around the cage. It’s great to see Mike Sawyer back on offense after last season’s suspension, and he looked fantastic. Much like Langan, he’s small and quick and can really do it all. The third guy in the fall is sophomore Pat Fanshaw, who may become the 4th attackman when Eric Lusby returns and makes the switch from midfield.

Fanshaw is a phenomenal lefty finisher, and had some fantastic goals from the outside on Saturday night. With his ability, it will be hard for Toomey to keep him off the field. As Langan explained after the scrimmage, the Hounds will be using a lot more picks at attack, as the emphasis this fall has been off-ball movement and communication. This seemed to really open up different guys from all over the field, especially the talented ball carriers at attack.

The depth at the midfield, especially at SSDM, was extremely impressive from top bottom, as no one guy in particular really had an eye-popping performance. Stephen Murray made some heady plays and is one of two returning starters at middie although there looked to be several capable guys that may push for time. DJ Comer switched from attack for his final season and looked to be a force, as did junior Brian Smalley. Smalley is speedy and dangerous in the open field and was all over groundballs.

Davis Butts is a big guy out there and had a few impressive plays, he’s come into his own as an offensive middie. Despite maybe not contributing in terms of points, the whole unit really shared the ball well and was cohesive. Throughout the scrimmage, it really became clear that because of the depth and experience that Loyola has at midfield that they can compete with any team in the country.

Freshmen Pat Laconi and Kyle Duffy filled in the void of Josh Hawkins, who is out for the fall but arguably one of the best SSDM’s in the country. Laconi and Duffy were tenacious and even had some caused turnovers, Laconi in particular made a very nice play in transition that really jumped out.

Close defense was perhaps the Hounds' weakness, it seems as though the unit could use some more time together to develop their communication. I noticed several missed and overaggressive slides resulting in Carolina goals. Junior defenseman Dylan Grimm, who is athletic and really did a good job locking his man down at times, caught my eye. Grimm’s father, Russ, was recently named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a dominant center of the era, while brother Cody is a standout rookie safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Reid Acton and Nick DiSimile had impressive performances as well. Kevin Moriarty was the biggest standout at longpole; he showed a mean streak and the ability to dominate in between the lines.

Jake Hagelin played the most between the pipes and had a solid performance, communicating the defense and making the saves that he needed to. There were a few sloppy clears but otherwise, Hagelin looked pretty good. He’s a three-year starter who has had ups and downs but is expected to have a strong year. Jack Runkel and Mike Bonitatibus got some minutes as well and while they aren’t expected to see a lot of time this year, Loyola fans should be excited about these two in the future — although the two are polar opposites. Runkel takes up a lot of room and is fairly conservative, positioning himself very well. Bonitatibus is small and quick and could fuel the transition game off the clears.

Overall, I was very impressed with the underclassmen’s potential and the depth at midfield. The attack should be a strength and will be hard to stopped if they create opportunities as they did on Saturday. Some things definitely needed to be worked on, but the Hounds look like a surefire top 10 or top 15 team.